1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relate to a vehicle traveling control device.
2. Description of Related Art
U.S. Pat. No. 8,457,827 describes the traveling control device of a vehicle. The device described in U.S. Pat. No. 8,457,827 predicts the behavior of the other vehicles around a vehicle based on the current vehicle state and the current surrounding environment. This device performs the autonomous driving of the vehicle based on the predicted behavior of the other vehicles.
When a vehicle is going to change the lane to an adjacent lane but the adjacent lane is crowded, it sometimes happens that the inter-vehicle distance between the vehicles traveling in the adjacent lane is short and there is no space, required for the vehicle to change the lane, between the vehicles traveling in the adjacent lane. In such a case, there is a possibility that the vehicle cannot change the lane autonomously. For example, if the traveling control device of a vehicle predicts, as a result of the prediction of the behavior of the other vehicles travelling in the crowded adjacent lane, that the inter-vehicle distance is shorter than the space required for the vehicle to squeeze between the vehicles, the vehicle must wait before starting changing the lane until the inter-vehicle distance becomes long enough. In this technical field, a vehicle traveling control device that makes it easy to change the lane into a crowded lane has become even more desirable.